will i am's delayed diary

Breakfast after my regular Saturday trip to the wet market was made more interesting by a call from Mei. MiniMei was in Batu Pahat, so she was looking for breakfast kaki . Mum suggested that we go have dim sum at Restoran Phangkey , Happy Garden. RMCO or not, the Chinese must have their dim sum . We stood in line for roughly half an hour before we got a table.  The food was good, but the environs definitely leave a lot to be desired. They actually have some sort of weird contraption processing the food right at the five foot walkway. LOL. Once we had our fill of the steamed and fried goodies, we headed to Zen & Co for coffee. The catch-up session was long overdue. A lengthy session of swapping MCO stories. Glad to hear that Mei's business wasn't adversely affected by the pandemic. 

Bored Malaysians went delirious over Dalgona coffee , a beverage that went viral on social media. Basically milk with thick instant coffee froth poured over it. I made my own minuman MCO which is based on caffè shakerato. I combined a sachet of Café Phố iced coffee with half a sachet of Antong Mocha. Dissolved the mix with some piping hot water. Dumped the mixture into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Did a little shake ( and twerk ), then poured out the contents into glass. Sprinkled some Hershey's cocoa powder on top before serving ( sure to make KH choke ). Tada! 

Paid off the last of my hire purchase loan in July. The end of the term was in July, so obviously I didn't take the moratorium. I decided to collect the vehicle ownership certificate by myself since it wasn't that far away. First time ever, I visited the Public Bank building at Jalan Sultan Sulaiman. It was a landmark for me during my early days in KL because I would pass by it on my way to Holy Rosary Church. FYI, it served as the Public Bank headquarters before the completion of the current building at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. Another interesting point is the plaza outside the building called Taman Wawasan that houses various public art installations. It was also the home of "Puncak Purnama", a sculpture by National Laureate Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal. It was defaced by DBKL in 1996, and demolished in 2016. Caused quite a stir in the arts scene. Really could feel and smell the building's age. The elevator's control panel was so retro. When I entered the hire purcha

Been using AXA motor insurance since the day I got my Almera. Recently, AXA launched something called FlexiDrive , a telematics based insurance policy. Basically one needs to install a device in the car that monitors the driving pattern. Discounts are earned based on the driver's behaviour : Harsh Driving Overspeeding Mileage The quantum of the discount is viewable from a mobile app, and can be used to offset next year's premium. A good way to instill customer loyalty. And beneficial for me because my mum doesn't speed, and my car has really low mileage.  The installation of the device was performed at one of their registered dealers for free. I just needed to pay a refundable MYR50 MYR70 deposit. The black box was hooked up to my car battery in just five minutes. The package can actually be upgraded for anti-theft features, but that requires a monthly subscription.  Note : After three months, I've earned MYR21 in discounts. :D

What's the best indication that the Covid situation was getting better? The opening of 4D outlets. The aunties and uncles were definitely not fazed by the new SOP. Plenty of money saved up during the MCO. Mum and I  SK bought a new Joyoung pressure cooker from China. She organized a pepper pig stomach soup with black garlic party that was cooked with her new kitchen appliance. Black garlic's colour comes from the  Maillard reaction . Pretty mild in flavour. In my opinion, the soup wasn't great. Felt that the pepper corns didn't meld with the pig stomach. In the evening, KH and I went out paktor -ing at Equine Park. We had our dinner at Jack & Steve Grill . Shared a plate of pork chops and some barbeque wings.  Then we had coffee and cake at Day 9 Kitchen . The hojicha burn cheesecake was an eye-catching item on their seasonal menu, but it wasn't well-executed. 

In usual cases, the longest I could go without a haircut is two months. Due to the pandemic, it was dragged till three months. Made an appointment with my stylist and he fit me in. Mum was itching for a perm, but chemical treatments were not allowed just yet. When I arrived, the door was locked. Guess it was to discourage walk-ins. When I got in, there was the standard scanning and temperature checks. Additionally, I was made to wear plastic gloves, those they give you to eat pork ribs. Noticed that the cafe wasn't open. My stylist wore personal protective gear, a face mask, and a face shield. He wore gloves, and had a  disinfectant fogger. He admitted in such working conditions, eight appointments a day was all that he could manage. After I sat in the chair, I was covered with a disposable plastic apron. Other than that, it was business as usual. There was an additional MYR5 charge for all the extras.  KH and I had a lunch date after my haircut. I had a simple beef bowl at Neighbo

SimonLover was missing Thailand, so we had a Thai dinner at Aroi Mak Mak in Petaling Jaya. Goes without saying that KH joined us, but Drew ( previously known as QueerRanter-D ) was an uncommon dinner guest. Ever since he separated from Apollo, he was a tad bored, so we got him out of the house. The food at Aroi Mak Mak was just average in my opinion, but at least they had some decent vegetarian choices for Drew. For the first time, I had deep-fried kangkung. SimonLover says that it's a Malaysian thing at local Thai restaurants.  Naturally we looked for a place to yumcha after dinner. Omulab was full to the brim with a a long waiting list. That good ah? KH suggested that we go to Er Lou Cafe which was located on the second floor, a few doors down. Had the whole place to ourselves. SimonLover was in the mood for tong sui , but the the funny thing was, they didn't let him order it ala carte. Furthermore, there was an ala carte option for tong sui in the menu. In the end, Simon

After months of growing mushrooms and bean sprouts at home, we finally decided to venture out to the shopping mall. Woke up bright and early to make a trip to The Gardens Mall. The Hari Raya Haji decorations centered around Malay crafts like wau , tudung saji , songket , and other woven items. Lunch we ate at Ichiriki , and it was a lunch 'gathering' of sorts becauce we were joined by JJ and Bunny. They sat at an adjacent table which was close enough. Introduced SK to Ichiriki's motsunabe and she take a liking to it. Once we were done eating, JJ passed me my first birthday present ( + Christmas present ) of the year-- a trio of shorts from Bottoms Lab. Actually, he bought them for himself, but even the smallest size didn't suit him. I feel proud that XS fit me. :P.   Did more shopping after lunch, and naturally we stopped for coffee and cake when we got tired. Rested our legs at Tokyo Secret , a spacious, and quiet cafe famous for their expensive baked cheese tarts. 

A couple of years back, KH made a pair of spectacles at Kuchai Lama. It was large, gold-rimmed, and kinda octagonal. The frame was badly tarnished and the lens coating was crappy too. So we made a trip to Aurora Place, Bukit Jalil to get a replacement at QOOP. The hunt for the right pair of frames too quite some time. In the end, we decided on a pair of dark tortoiseshell frames. The optician too a long time to determine KH's power ( and it was obvious that it was no fun for him working with a face mask and face shield ). Mum also got a new pair of reading glasses. And hunting for a pair of suitable frames was also a big challenge. A customer was actually waiting for KH and mum to finish. Enviable patience. I would have gone shopping or sat down at a cafe instead of waiting there.  With both Herculean tasks out of the way, we celebrated with a kopi session at Nanyang Kopitiam . The place was cheap, and served decent local coffee. Both kopi c and kaya butter toast was MYR1.50 each.

Working from home bestows the luxury of waking up later. But that does not always translate to more sleep because one tends to sleep later to compensate ! During those nights, I discovered a few interesting Japanese series on Netflix. Midnight Diner : Tokyo Stories Dorohedoro "Midnight Diner" is about a midnight diner. Straightforward. Each episode is a short story that centers around a customer of that diner. The special thing about the diner is that the chef does off-menu orders as long as he has the ingredients. So each episode will center on single dish that regularly ordered by the customer. The characters are very diverse, with many interactions and subtle relationships between the regulars and those who only drop by once in a while. From shopkeepers to strippers to office workers, the stories are equally random and interesting.  "Dorohedoro" is a bizarre anime about two inter-related realms of existence-- The Hole, and the Sorcerers' World. Humans live a

Starting the 1st of June, my company started loosening the work-from-home policy and encouraged employees to return to the workplace. A staggered approach was chosen, with two teams taking turns on a weekly rotation. I was Team A, so I got to experience firsthand the new normal.  The biggest change on my part was that I no longer took the train to work. The trains were too risky in my opinion. In the early phases, traffic was excellent. Entering my office area required a temperature check at the boom gate. Funny thing was, the procedure was mandatory for the driver, not the passengers. Big loophole huh? The lift buttons were covered with plastic and supposedly sanitized periodically. Never once did I see anyone cleaning the buttons. And since the lifts were tiny, only two persons were allowed at any given time. Entering the office, I had to register and do another temperature check. I didn't wear a face mask in the office ( surgical mask : no, fake smile : yes ). Hand sanitizers we